Joe Willock celebrates after scoring Newcastle United's second goal in their 2-2 draw with Liverpool (Image: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire)
Joe Willock celebrates after scoring Newcastle United's second goal in their 2-2 draw with Liverpool (Image: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire)
KEVIN KEEGAN would have loved this. Absolutely loved it. And if truth be told, he probably wouldn’t have been completely surprised by the dramatic and controversial way it ended either.
With the clock ticking into the sixth minute of injury time, Newcastle United were heading for a victory that would have marked a wonderful start to the Matthias Jaissle era. But as has been the case in so many games between the Magpies and Liverpool, a number of which were overseen by Keegan, there was a final twist in the tail.
Lewis Hall blocked Victor Munoz’s run in the box, referee Stuart Attwell pointed to the spot, and Dominic Szoboszlai slammed home his spot-kick to deprive Newcastle of two points.
It was a cruel, if familiar, way for things to end, but the failure to claim a victory should not detract from the quality of the Magpies’ opening-day performance, a display that immediately answered many of the questions that have been thrown at them this summer.
Is Jaissle ready to succeed Eddie Howe? Can Newcastle survive after the exits of Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes? Are the club’s youthful signings ready for the cut and thrust of the Premier League? On this evidence, yes, yes and yes.
There were fine displays all over the pitch, but none more influential than the one delivered by a completely reborn Yoane Wissa, who excelled as a ‘number ten’ before running the Liverpool defence ragged in the final quarter after being moved up front. Wissa and Anthony Elanga, who opened the scoring with a clinical finish, were branded expensive failures last season – here, they were even better than new signings, such was the extent of their impact.
Even by St James’ Park’s traditionally emotional standards, the pre-match tributes to Keegan were something to behold. A giant tifo in front of the East Stand depicted the Newcastle legend throughout the ages, first as era-defining player then as club-transforming manager. Liverpool’s supporters, high in the Leazes End, paid their own tribute, celebrating Keegan’s trophy-laden years at Anfield. Rarely has a minute’s applause been as loud or heartfelt.
Would the intensity levels drop when the action began? Not when Alexander Isak was handed the task of kicking off for Liverpool, with Newcastle’s supporters bombarding their former favourite with a barrage of boos. And certainly not when the home side opened the scoring with the slickest of counter-attacking breaks just five minutes in.
Debutant Amar Dedic slid in to make a tackle in Newcastle’s 18-yard box, with the ball breaking upfield to Will Osula. The Magpies’ central striker broke forward, rolling a perfectly-weighted pass into the path of Elanga, who was tearing past Milos Kerkez on the overlap. Elanga can sometimes be accused of lacking composure in similar situations, but the first-time finish he angled across Alisson could not have been any better, finding the far corner. What a way to start a new season.
Newcastle played with pace and aggression from the word go, although Osula’s movement was impeded for much of the first half after a collision with Virgil van Dijk. Behind him, Wissa was a bundle of energy, while Sean Steur and Lewis Miley dovetailed superbly as a new-look central-midfield pairing, with the former oozing composure as he returned from the injury lay-off that kept him out of most of pre-season and the latter making a mockery of his teenage status following his summer move from Ajax.
Steur was one of three debutants in the Newcastle team along with goalkeeper Lukas Hornicek and right-back Amar Dedic, and Hornicek made a crucial save to maintain his side’s advantage midway through the first half. Malick Thiaw’s clearance fell to Florian Wirtz, but while the German’s shot looked to be heading in, Hornicek flung himself to his left to make a fine sprawling stop.
There was a sense that the visitors were beginning to find space too easily though, and sure enough, Cody Gakpo took advantage of some rare defensive hesitancy from Newcastle to level the scores ten minutes into the second half. Ryan Gravenberch fed the ball into Gakpo, and with defenders backing off him, the Dutchman drilled home a precise 20-yard finish.
Jaissle responded immediately, bringing on Jacob Ramsey and Joe Willock. Suffice to say, his changes had the desired impact. Willock had been on the field less than two minutes when Wissa embarked on a rampaging 40-yard run, brushing aside opponents before rolling the ball into the substitutes’ path. Willock’s close control was impeccable as he breezed into the area, and his low finish was just as good, flying past Alisson’s left hand.
Wissa couldn’t convert a late opportunity to make things safe, firing straight at Alisson, meaning that when Hall was adjudged to have fouled Munoz, Liverpool were able to level.